God is Not Our Co-Pilot

Photo by Mike Rickard: http://lightsportrayal.zenfolio.com/

When the phrase, "God is my co-pilot" first hit the scene, it caused us to focus our attention on God being a huge force in our life. The popularity of this phrase grew over the years.

It gave me comfort to think of God next to me, traversing the issues of my life and ready to back me up if necessary. However, something always bothered me when I heard this phrase.

God showed me that He wants more intimacy and control over our life than a co-pilot. He does not want to function only during an emergency, which we find too challenging.

God wants to reign as Lord and King of our life. He is much better suited to Pilot our life than we could ever hope to be. He knows the end of our human lifespan from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10).

He saw us in our mother's womb and knit our bones together with His special purpose in mind (Psalm 139:13). He has a unique plan to provide for each one of us.

For instance, God chose to leave out four of my permanent teeth. Then He proved His love for me by allowing those baby teeth to serve me for several decades into my adult life.

He has a perfect will for each life, including yours (Ephesians 2:10). As we totally surrender to His Spirit's direction for every moment of our day, He guides us from one divine appointment to the next.

God uses us for His glory and blesses us in the process. We help to further His Kingdom on the earth and to contribute to the population of Heaven for eternity.

Complete capitulation to God's Spirit is our best recourse in life. We never feel concern over the past, or fear of the future or stress in the moment, because we cast all of our worries on our Father God, who cares about us (1 Peter 5:7).

This helps us to lose our temporal mindset and to focus on the eternal instead. Satan's temptations no longer appeal to us. We rise above the carnal cares of this life, because we trust God to supply all of our needs with His glorious riches (Philippians 4:19).

Prayer:

Father God, as we submit our life to you, there is no event, which will ever occur in our life, that is not already part of Your plan for us. We trust in Your loving kindness, because You have our best interest in Your heart. 

You weave the moments of our day into a perfect tapestry, which turns the focus away from us and puts it fully on You (Matthew 5:16).

We give You all of the praise and glory for the successes of our life, and we know that You will turn the ashes of our failures and suffering into a beautiful experience in Your time and way (Isaiah 61:3; Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Thought for the Day:

God wants complete control of every area of our life; and once we submit to His will, we find fulfillment, which is better than anything we could ever plan for our self.

Healing Through Grief

When our feelings threaten to overwhelm us and their intensity frightens us, grieving them will help us to cope in healthy ways. To receive healing it is necessary to face our grief and to actively surrender it to God. Trying to ignore our pain only makes it worse. Our Inner Child will find a way to interject our heart-felt feelings into our day at the most inopportune times.  Feeling sad, frightened, or lonely is normal. Showing our true feelings can help others to grieve as well.  

Everyone grieves differently. We all have our own unique personality and needs, which color our grief process. Some take longer than others to grieve. We never fully recover from grief. Familiar places and aspects of life will trigger our grief, sometimes at the most unexpected moments. Holidays, a special song, a child, a Bible passage, a piece of clothing, a facial expression, a motto, and many other experiences may trigger our feelings of grief all over again.

This is a normal and a necessary part of healing. It is healthy to allow our self to feel the grief, and then to put it into God’s perspective. We can compare it to what God did for us during other times of loss and what He is doing now as well. Circumstances may continue to trigger our feelings for years after our loss. It is important to allow our self to feel that grief, rather than to bury the feelings or to lecture our self or others for the way we feel. They are legitimate feelings.

Patience with our self and others who are grieving is very important. Those in grief need our care, patience and understanding. We allow our grief to process naturally, by refusing to put parameters and expectations on grief. Grief often resembles a roller coaster; but it is also a ferry, which will transport us to the future stages in our life with more compassion and understanding for others who encounter grief in their life too.

Prayer:

Father God, strengthen our inner being after a loss in our life and reshape the beliefs and thought patterns that contribute to our fear of the future. Remind us to read Your Word and to copy down verses, which comfort us in our time of fear and grief. From Your scriptures, we will gain guidance, wisdom, courage and encouragement. They are our spiritual vitamins, which strengthen us more each day.

Thought for the Day:

God is more powerful than all of our needs, and He will provide for us according to His glorious riches.  – Philippians 4:19